Chapter Six
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Chase stared at the images on his computer screen. He’d worked endlessly on these shots since he’d walked away from Eve. And walking away from her had been one of the hardest things he’d ever done. He’d seen the hurt in her eyes—the desperate need. The second he’d closed his office door he’d licked his finger clean. Not the smartest thing he’d ever done. Since then her taste and smell was all he’d thought of for the past nine hours.
He’d known going down this road would not be smart, and the minute he’d focused on her through his lens, the war was over. At least for him. There would be no more denial of what he wanted from Eve. The rock-hard erection in his pants proved that.
No, little Miss Eve would be his. Plain and simple. He’d offered her more than a fair share of outs, even though he’d known she wouldn’t take them. If he’d had a doubt of her intentions before, these pictures cleared up everything. Her words could lie, desire could tempt her where she didn’t really need to go, but the camera, it never lied.
There in the photos lay the perfect submissive. His submissive. Funny how life threw things at you when you least expected it. She’d stumbled into his life on a whim without a lick of secretarial experience, and Murphy had taken her in.
“F*ck, Chase. Have you been here all night again?”
Before he could respond, a white foam box landed on his desk, disturbing the organized chaos he had going on.
“Do you really expect me to answer that?” Chase popped open the box and sighed at the gourmet omelet from his favorite all-night café. He hadn’t thought of anything other than Eve for so many hours that he’d forgotten to eat, and now his stomach growled furiously for nourishment.
“See, there is a God. And he called up you, Murphy Young, to deliver me the finest food I’ve seen in too long.” Chase grabbed the plastic silverware and ripped into the bag it came in. He freed the fork and dug into the food. The fluffy egg and cheese crossed his taste buds in a ridiculously delightful experience. “Oh yeah, now that’s what I’m talking about.”
“You should try leaving the office every once in a while. You might be surprised by what you find out there.” Murphy settled into the leather couch across from his desk and placed his feet on the coffee table.
“Yeah, f*ck you too.”
Rich laughter erupted from his best friend and provider of decent food. “So, I take it you like the shots from yesterday.”
“You tell me.” He grabbed up one of the 8 x 10s he’d already printed in high resolution and handed it over.
Chase knew the instant Murphy’s facial expression turned serious, he’d been right. He’d captured some of his best work with Eve. Once she’d given in to the bindings, everything about her had begun to change. A low whistle from the couch shook Chase from his thoughts and brought his attention back to Murphy.
“This is pretty unbelievable. And why do I have a sudden hunch we’re not getting paid enough for these photos?” Murphy handed the photo back to Chase, who stared into the eyes of the woman he craved more than ever. The combination of fear, lust, and crazy want in her gaze tore into his gut every time he looked.
“What happened when she left? Please tell me you talked to her.”
“Yeah I talked to her all right, but she was pretty damn pissed at me the last time I saw her.”
“Chaaase.” The exasperated sound of Murphy’s voice when he spoke his name amused him. If his friend didn’t know him by now, he never would. “You were mean to her, weren’t you?”
He couldn’t tear his gaze from her photo. Her skin practically glowed against the ropes. Full breasts topped with the perfect berry red nipples drew his attention here, almost as much as they did in person. Oh what he could do with tits like those.
“Are you even listening to me?”
“Yeah, I hear you just fine.”
“Then what the hell? I know you’ve had a bug up your ass since she started working here, but looking at those photos and after her performance yesterday, I thought you’d be thrilled.”
Chase slammed down the picture and turned a hard look to his friend. “That’s exactly the problem, isn’t it? It’s not a performance. Our little receptionist has a submissive streak a mile wide.”
“Even better.” Murphy sat up straight and placed his feet on the floor. “You’ve been out of the play scene for a while, and it’s high time you got on with finding someone new.”
“Don’t try to force this on me. I won’t put up with bullshit like that.”
Murphy barked in laughter. “Force you. Are you f*cking kidding me? Your tongue was practically hanging out when I walked in here, and don’t think I missed your reactions yesterday. You want her. So what exactly is the problem?”
“You know, you can go now. I do still have some more work to do this morning, just in case our new protégée decides to show up.”
“What do you mean? Why wouldn’t she? Did you purposely try to scare her off last night?”
Chase rolled his eyes and stood. Movement. He needed movement. Murphy grilling him about Eve was getting under his skin. “I was truthful, goddammit, so quit giving me shit about it. If Eve comes in today, it won’t just be for pictures.”
“Did you even bother to explain why we held her back from the orgasm she begged for?”
He kept silent. He didn’t have to answer to Murphy if he didn’t want to. They were business partners first, play partners second. Although the fact they’d been best friends since childhood probably superseded it all.
“You are one hard man, Chase. Even I couldn’t have resisted her soft pleas for a second more. If I’d held her for two minutes longer, that hot cunt of hers would have been in my mouth. It’s all I thought about last night after I went home. I mean, hell, don’t even ask how many times I jacked off.”
“You know if she obeyed, and kept her hands away from herself, the pictures I’ll get today will be off the f*cking charts. I really might have to ask the client for more.” Chase paced across the room and willed his hands to stay at his sides. The zipper pressing against his engorged dick was going to leave marks. But if he expected her to exercise control, then he’d sure do the same. It was the least he could do.
“You’re waiting for her, aren’t you?” Murphy looked at him with a narrowed gaze. “Yep, I can see it. The Chase Miller legendary control is hard at work and clawing up your back, isn’t it?”
“I need her to come back.”
Murphy sighed deeply. “She’ll be back, and we both know it. Hell, I hope so. I’ve never experienced anyone quite like her. I know she’s not completely innocent, but she has a quality about her. Someone just needs to work through her control issues. It’s no wonder she’s so curious about bondage. Nothing like a little forced helplessness to bring out the inner slut.”
An idea crawled into Chase’s head, and he hurried back to his desk. He sank into the deep leather chair and swiveled to the computer. The photo he’d been manipulating for the last few hours haunted him. With a computerized paintbrush, he painted on four simple letters and sat back to look at the results.
“What do you think?”
Murphy launched himself from the sofa and crossed the room. He peered over Chase’s shoulder and absorbed the last photo he’d taken. Now emblazoned with the word slut.
“Perfect. It suits her to a tee.” The approval in Murphy’s voice was unmistakable. No wonder they did everything so well together. They’d discovered long ago that they were two sides of the same coin. And in this day and age it was all about balance.
“Did you already set up the studio?”
“You know I did.”
“Now she just needs to show up.” The both glanced at the clock, and Chase frowned. She was already twenty minutes late.